underneath the willow tree
by chasingafterstarlight
Summary: because life isn't a bunch of happy endings, especially not for them. MollyLorcan, for Masquerade Doll's other half challenge on the HPFC forum.


**underneath the willow tree**

_MollyLorcan_

**Prompts: **_**willow tree, twilight, eyes**_

It's twilight when she finds him, and he's just where she expected him to be.

Blue eyes shut, he whispered, "You always know, don't you?"

"I know you," She confirmed. Leaning back against the willow tree, she let out a wispy breath. The hard bark cut into her skin. "You're a smart Ravenclaw. You should know that running away from your problems never helps."

He looked at her. His blue eyes bore into hers like icy wind on a cold winter's night, and she found it hard to believe it was still summer. "I should know that, eh? Well, Molly, I can't deal with this."

"Lysander's really upset-" She tried again.

"_Lysander's _upset? Well, I think you should understand that I don't give an _anything _about him right now. He can go die for all I care," Lorcan ranted.

Her eyes caught fire then. "Lorcan Scamander! I can't understand you! _He's _trying to make this better and you're making it harder!"

"But he still gets her, doesn't he?" Lorcan raised one light brown eyebrow.

Molly's silent for a moment. "I'm sorry."

Hanging his head, Lorcan muttered, "Yeah, sure."

The night was warm, and the previously light sky was dark. "It's twilight," she informed him.

"Twilight," He mused. "A romantic time of day. Too bad I have no one to spend it with."

"You have me," Molly offered. "I mean, we could be sad together. I lost Lysander, you lost Lucy. We lose… but we win at the same time. And it could make them jealous…"

"Jealousy," Lorcan ran his fingers up her arm, raising goosebumps on her hot skin, "Is not what I'm concerned about. It's a horrible feeling, really, and that's _not _the punishment that my twin brother deserves."

"Well, what are you concerned about?" She lifted her blue-green eyes to meet his. "Other than Lysander's feelings?"

"The future," Lorcan told her, staring up at the still-blackening sky.

Molly just giggled. "Why are you such a Ravenclaw?"

"The point _is_," Lorcan finished, glaring at her. "I had thought that Lucy was my future. I hadn't considered any other path. But now that she has… y'know, ditched me for Lysander, I don't know what I'm going to do with my life."

Molly glanced over at him. "What do you mean? You have perfect OWL scores. You could take whatever classes you want, become a famous Auror or something…" Seeing the dubious expression on his face, she started again. "Don't even say anything. I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me that you don't want a famous career or anything, because you don't want to be remembered for what you do, but what you do _for others_ and how you make a difference in others' lives. Something completely Ravenclaw like that. Actually, that's more Hufflepuff. Guess the Hat sorted you wrong, Lor."

"I was not," Lorcan protested, turning red. "Well, I was. But I'm not a Hufflepuff! The Hat is never wrong."

"Sure it's not," Molly teased. But then silence fell over them again. Molly breaks it, as always. "How did you find out?"

"Saw them kissing in the hallway," Lorcan responded, seemingly mortified. "Horrible mental pictures, y'know. I tried to convince myself that Lucy thought it was me, but… no. Today, Lysander and I look completely different."

"That's true," Molly agreed. Downcast, her eyes flew to the green grass, and she stretched her legs out in it. Her eyes caught his, and suddenly, she leaned in. His lips pressed on hers for _just a second _before he pulled away, wide-eyed.

"What are you doing?" He demanded. "Molly, it's _Molly and Lysander _and _Lorcan and Lucy, _not _Lorcan and Molly, _never _Lorcan and Molly_! It's not us!"

"How do you know?" She whispers, looking terrified of his Ravenclaw temper. "Lor, we never had a chance."

"And we never will," Lorcan told her. "It's just the way things go."

_Just the scheme of life, _Molly told herself. _One day Lucy and Lysander will come around and realise they were wrong. They'll realise that it's Molly with Lysander and Lucy with Lorcan, not the other way around._

So **why **does that sound so wrong?

...

The next day, it is reported that she is missing. Knowingly, he nodded his head, and then he found her once again (underneath the willow tree, right where he'd expected her). Blue green met blue as her eyes found his. "What are you doing here?"

"I knew you'd be here," Lorcan told her. "You just can't resist, can you?"

"I don't want you here," She replied. Her eyes shifted the ground, and he could tell that she was lying. "I want to be _alone, _Lorcan."

"Sounds as if you're convincing yourself more than me," He muttered lazily. "Since when do Gryffindors want solitude? More of a Ravenclaw concept, if you ask me. Maybe the Hat was wrong with _you_."

"Go _away,_Lorcan!" She yelled again, trying to make it sound as if she meant it.

"Molly," He stared straight at her. "Just because Lysander and Lucy are going out doesn't mean we have to have some sick attempt to make them jealous."

"I don't want to make them jealous, Lorcan," She answered him slowly. Tears started to drop down the strong girl's face, and Lorcan was shocked. She never cried. She was always strong Molly, never showing any emotion other than happiness, and here she was showing sadness. Sadness over _him, _and he didn't deserve it, not at all.

"Don't cry, Moll," Lorcan pleaded. "I don't deserve it. _You _don't deserve it."

"I think I might love you," She stuttered out in between tears. "Is that wrong? I love Lysander too. It's so confusing, Lor, and…."

He cut her off by leaning down and planting a careful kiss on her lips. As he pulled away, he whispered, "Moll, it's not going to work. It never will."

"How can we just pretend nothing ever happened?" Molly whispered, white teeth sinking into her pink lip.

"We just will," Lorcan assured her. "It will be easy, if this is the way things are meant to go."

"And if not?" Molly replied.

"Well, we'll just see where things go," Lorcan smiled. "And take it from there."

Taking his hand, the two walked back to the castle together. But when they reached the wide, iron doors, they let go. No one could see them like that. Because they're Lorcan and Molly and they just weren't ever _meant to be _like those couples in stories.

…

Two weeks later, when Molly couldn't _pretend _like a girl in a storybook anymore, Lorcan knew where to find her.

He thought that maybe they could give it another try.

**And here it is in freeverse, just because I wanted to give it a try:**

**underneath the willow tree**

_Twilight _on a warm **summer **night  
A boy leans against a _tall _willow tree**  
**She finds him there  
(_she always does)_

Says he can't deal with the _p r o b l e m s_  
They're **destroying **his life (little by little)  
_(but he shouldn't have run away_)

His _ohsoprecious _twin is with the girl he loves  
_(sorry, no happy ending for you_)

Her _ohsobeautiful _sister is with the boy she loves  
_(too bad, life isn't fair)_

They're both _torn_**up **inside  
bad ideas form in her _messedup _head  
Then, suddenly, her lips are on _his_  
(_run away while you still have a chance_)

Blue eyes meet **bluegreen**  
_"We can't do this, Molly._"  
"_Why not? They did."_

They've never had a chance  
It's supposed to be Molly&Lysander and **Lucy&Lorcan**  
_(so why does that sound so wrong?)_

She's **gone **again  
_Too bad _he knows exactly where to find her  
Hidden underneath the **willow tree**

**Blue**&_bluegreen _meet again  
"_What are you doing here? I don't want you here_,"  
(**too bad solitude was never a Gryffindor concept)**

She tells him she _doesn't care _about **jealousy**  
Tears start to roll down her perfectlypainted face  
_(the strong girl crying, what a sight)_

Inside he knows it's **wrongwrongwrong**  
(_he doesn't deserve her tears, any of them)_  
And then she says that _maybemaybe _she loves **him**

(and it's all so _wrongwrongwrong_)

But in a mess of _tears _and **smiles**  
His _lips _find hers  
_(still, they weren't ever meant to be_)

He tells her to just **playpretend**  
Since they aren't meant to be, it should be _e a s y_  
(_and they walk back __**hand in hand**__)_

They don't get their **happyending **like all the other fairy tales

But _two weeks later_  
when Molly's **done **pretending  
He finds her _right _underneath their _w i l l o w t r e e_

_(and maybe they could give it another shot)_

**A/N: **So, how was that? A freeverse that was terrible, and a prose that was a little bit better.

These were for **Masquerade Doll **on the HPFC forum, for her challenge, _My Other Half _Challenge.


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